Dec 17, 2021
A panel of scientists examine the opportunities and thorny issues in converting to action the “nature” recommendations of the World Scientists Warning of a Climate Emergency.
The expert panel:
Prof. Phoebe Barnard is a board member of Scientists Warning Europe. Phoebe is chief science and policy officer at the Conservation Biology Institute, and affiliate full professor at the University of Washington. Phoebe has 26 years of deep experience on three continents, mainly in Africa, North America and Europe - founding and running national and bioregional programs, and helping to steer global ones.
Prof. Chris Rapley is a member of Scientists Warning Europe's Scientific Advisory Panel. He is professor of Climate Science at University College London. He is a Fellow of UCL and of St Edmund's College Cambridge, a member of the Academia Europaea, Chair-elect of the European Science Foundation’s European Space Sciences Committee, Member of the Advisory Board of the UK government’s Clean Growth Fund, a member of the UK Science Museum Group’s Science Advisory Board and a member of the UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. His previous posts include Director of the Science Museum, Director of the British Antarctic Survey, Chairman of the London Climate Change Partnership, President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, and Distinguished Visiting Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. More recently he has focused on the role of climate scientists in delivering value to society through decision making, public policy and more effective communication. He is Chair of the UCL Policy Commission on Communicating Climate Science. More recently Prof Rapley was the Science Consultant on BBC1’s ‘Climate Change – The Facts’ presented by Sir David Attenborough. In 2003 Prof Rapley was appointed CBE by Her Majesty the Queen.
Dr. Mao Amis is the co-founder and Executive Director of the African Centre for a Green Economy (AfriCGE) and Adjunct Associate Professor, at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town. AfriCGE is a non-profit think tank and capacity building organisation based in South Africa. Prior to founding AfriCGE, Dr. Amis worked as programme Manager for WWF South Africa. Dr Amis has extensive experience on Green Growth issues in Africa and has consulted and collaborated with various organisations such as IFPRI, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), CORAF, and others. He is currently leading a project to establish the first new economy innovation hub in South Africa.
In the World Scientists Warning of a Climate Emergency, published on 5 November 2019, the following recommendation for "Nature" was made: "We must protect and restore Earth’s ecosystems. Phytoplankton, coral reefs, forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands, peatlands, soils, mangroves, and sea grasses contribute greatly to sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Marine and terrestrial plants, animals, and microorganisms play significant roles in carbon and nutrient cycling and storage. We need to quickly curtail habitat and biodiversity loss, protecting the remaining primary and intact forests, especially those with high carbon stores and other forests with the capacity to rapidly sequester carbon (proforestation), while increasing reforestation and afforestation where appropriate at enormous scales. Although available land may be limiting in places, up to a third of emissions reductions needed by 2030 for the Paris agreement (less than 2°C) could be obtained with these natural climate solutions."
Scientists Warning Europe presents and promotes science endorsed solutions which will lead to a just transition for our World to a sustainable and equitable future. Learn more, sign up for updates, and support our work at https://www.scientistswarningeurope.org.uk
This podcast series is made possible through the generous help of the GrowthBusters podcast about limits to growth.
LINKS:
World Scientists’ Warnings into Action, Local to
Global
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00368504211056290
Scientists Warning
Europe
https://scientistswarningeurope.org.uk/
All Three World
Scientists’ Warnings
https://scientistswarningeurope.org.uk/warnings
Planet in Crisis Pre-COP Video Series
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyl1v07bfIaLHtXjYBtaca3YdlPaKC9Vx
African Centre for a Green Economy
http://www.africege.org/
Dr. Phoebe Barnard
https://www.phoebebarnard.com/conservation-writing-filmmaking
Mentioned by Phoebe Barnard: Innovative financing mechanisms for carbon-friendly conservation are found, for example, at Blue Forest: https://www.blueforest.org/
If you’re interested in starting up a Scientists Warning group on your continent, please reach out to us at https://www.scientistswarningeurope.org.uk/contact
GrowthBusters podcast
http://www.growthbusters.org/podcast/
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